The Dothan horror
It's estimated that several hundred false felony convictions, perhaps as many as a thousand, resulted from these frame-ups. Think about what that implies -- millennia of undeserved prison time. Some of the victims are still in prison.
In fairness, it's other officers who have now gone public what was going on -- but their first internal complaint about the group's practices dates back to 1998. They must have known for years that internal investigations were producing no results and that only national publicity could get anything done. Why did it take until 2015 to come forward? Didn't the knowledge that some of the victims were still languishing in prison make this an emergency?
I found out about this story from Zandar's blog, and Raw Story and Alternet have also posted reports, but frankly I'm surprised that it isn't up in headlines all over the internet. A thousand people framed by a police conspiracy in one small city, decades after the Civil Rights movement! And remember, whenever you find yourself asking what the hell is going on here, what you should really be asking is what the hell else is going on here. As Zandar points out, there's no reason to think Dothan is unique. Large areas of the country are rancid with this "neo-Confederate" mentality. If systematic framing of innocent people on this scale could happen in one town for years and only now come to light, it may well be happening in a lot of other places too.
posted by Infidel753 at 3:05 AM
3 Comments:
Interesting read here ... unfortunately NOT ONE BIT of it surprises me in this section of Alabama (I believe all of it, and for a reason), it's really back in the woods and even neighbouring northern Florida is culturally similar (not all white folks, but a small percentage ... just enough to make a black persons life miserable). There is just a kind of sub- culture in these areas that is like generational, it's a way of getting back at what some of these white folks despise, which in Alabama's case is folks that dont like the heavier black populations of today they see, "some" folks in this area have had generational red- ass (anger) that goes way back before the Civil Rights Movement to the Civil War, they dislike the Federal Gvmnt even coming into their territory for any damn thing, even if it's FEMA to help with a disaster for that matter, and damn sure hate Washington in their local business/ affairs or neck of the woods. As far as black folks in remote areas like that ... most are from there, and expect this to happen, and feel they're pissing in the wind sometimes to even bitch, they are poor, seen this for years, it's all they know, and they just hope to be able one day to go to a city like Birmingham or Atlanta as the only way to escape this, some just accept it, keep their mouth shut and look at it as "just the way it is". But you're right, this is just one of many cases you will find, it's spread all over the place, especially in some of those areas in the Southeast that has had the red- ass for years. Of course local cops asked for government help and intervention, they know damn well how long this has been going on, and know that the only way in Hell it will be challenged is from federal level intervention, some of the cops that talk have to be in fear as well, because they have wayz to make their lives miserable. You live in some remote town in this neck of the woods, you are white, even if you're in law enforcement, you are viewed by some as a troublemaker, and even a nigger. I have been all over Alabama, fortunately because I was white I received in most cases the usual warm southern hospitality, although a couple times I got a little friction from a select bunch, for just being an outside type ... with black folks, its a whole different story. However, if you're black, keep your mouth shut and do as you're told and accept what you are in their eyes, you will get less friction, that is why you have select Uncle Tom type good ole boys that are black, and will actually turn their head. Alabama is also one of the hardest places to do prison time in the country (even Texas is), you are legally slave labour, day in and day out ... enough from me though man ... cause I could write a damn book on this shit.
I read this and was sickened, but not surprised. To me it's just a more gentlemanly form of KKK terrorism.
And the people who rail at the "Black Lives Matter" protest will never bother to read and understand this report.
The more one reads about these lawless actions by police against the African-American community, the more one understands the rancid disrespect and hatred the TeaPartyGOPers have held toward Mr. Obama.
Ranch: A horrifying picture. It just shows why the feds need to maintain detailed oversight over certain parts of the country.
Shaw. To them, a black President must be disquieting indeed -- a constant reminder of how far out of step they are with the majority of Americans.
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